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Veteran- and Military-Friendly Employers
Many companies recognize, recruit, and use the value offered from veterans entering the corporate workforce. Military-friendly companies value your leadership skills, diversity, commitment/discipline, training, flexibility/adaptability, and "in-the-trenches/can-do" attitude and work ethic.
A number of companies that recruit veterans also have internal veterans' programs. For example, Booz Allen Hamilton has such a program, as they value the knowledge, experience, and credentials of veterans. They have created a program so veterans are introduced to the "corporate culture," and the non-military employees are introduced to the "military culture," joining the workforce and creating a mutual understanding and respect.
DoD Contractors
Government / Department of Defense contractors value and recruit veterans, as oftentimes, the work you performed in the military is directly aligned with the work accomplished by the contractor. You may even be able to step into the equivalent job, in the same location, you held in the military. Additionally, many DoD contractors require their employees to hold security clearances. If you have a security clearance when you leave the military, you may want to leverage that credential, and apply for jobs with DoD contractors. If you already have a security clearance, then you are highly desired by many DoD contractors, and your hiring process may even be expedited.
Other Organizations & Industries That Recruit Military
Security & Law Enforcement Organizations
The military defends the homeland against threats from foreign entities. Consequently, as a service member, you are trained in security, anti-terrorism, and force protection, at a minimum. Your skills and knowledge of security may be a benefit to an employer seeking an expert in security operations and or law enforcement.
Job-Hunt's list of Veterans' Resources by State includes links to most state police organization recruiting pages, another law enforcement option.
However, you do not necessarily have to "walk the beat." Your skills may translate to managing a security operation for any type of company; creating security plans; developing contingency security plans for a company, or other organization.
- The Federal Government
The US federal government offers veterans' preference points to service members who were awarded a campaign badge or expeditionary medal (5 points); or were disabled (10 points). Many federal positions align with military occupational specialties, and seeking federal employment can make for a smooth transition from the military.
- Intelligence & Intelligence Training Organizations
These types of organizations seek and recruit military, as you are already well trained with hands-on experience in intelligence disciplines. Intelligencecareers.com is an excellent website to use as a job search resource and includes a search function for cleared and non-cleared jobs in Intelligence, IT and Systems, Engineering, Linguistics, Management and Science, and Technical disciplines.
- Communications, utilities, and communications-oriented companies
Communications and utilities companies recruit veterans to leverage the skills gained in the military specific to communications and utilities. Some communications and utilities military-friendly companies from Top 100 lists include T-Mobile, Sprint-Nextel, Southern California Edison, AT&T, Pacific Gas and Electric, Constellation Energy, First Energy, Xcel Energy, and Dominion.
- Companies seeking military experience and discipline
VetJobs.com, GIJobs.com (which publishes an annual list of the top 100 Military Friendly Employers), and other veteran-specific job boards and information sites provide comprehensive lists of military-friendly companies (ranging from transportation, finance, health care, technology, government, retail, security, defense, consumer goods, logistics, insurance, industrial products and services, business services, and more). Here is a short list of Top Military-friendly companies:
- Deloitte Junior Military Officer Recruiting Program
- Union Pacific Railroad
- Home Depot
- J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc.
- TriWest Healthcare Alliance
- Northrop Grumman Corporation
- Sodexo, Inc.
- Schneider National
- Sears Holdings Corporation
- Bank of America
- State Farm Insurance Exelon Corporation Financial Services
- DynCorp International
- Corrections Corporation of America
- U-Haul
- Brink’s U.S.
- American Eurocopter
- Deloitte Junior Military Officer Recruiting Program
- Leadership & Management
Your military occupational specialty may be very specific, i.e., accountant, engineer, veterinarian, weapons specialist, chemical/biological/nuclear specialist, pilot, or logistics manager. However, you may also have gained many skills sets complimentary to leadership and management roles within varied military-friendly companies. For example, a submariner (Navy) secured a position with Coca-Cola as a Bottling Plant Manager; a comptroller (Army) accepted a position with Frito Lay as Director, Accounting Division; and an infantry soldier accepted a position as an Operations Manager/Warehousing with Wal-Mart. Your leadership skills, discipline, and solid work ethic are very desired by many companies, DoD contractors, and the federal government.
- Teaching Careers
The DoD's Troops to Teachers provides counseling and referral services to military personnel interested in beginning a second career in public education as a teacher. The DANTES Troops to Teachers office will help applicants identify teacher certification requirements, programs leading to certification, and employment opportunities.
Locating Other Military-Friendly Employers
To identify military-friendly employers, start with general Google searches, Indeed searches, and military association searches.
Keyword Searches
To aid in locating companies who hire veterans, you can conduct keyword searches using any combination of these suggestions:
Department of Defense Contractors / DoD
Cleared Jobs
Security
Law Enforcement
Intelligence
Anti-terrorism
Homeland Security
Communications
Any keywords specific to your occupational specialty (engineering, health care, human resources / human capital, operations management, etc.)
Bottom Line
There is a growing appreciation in the civilian world of the value of military-trained employees and executives. The employers and resources listed above are just a starting point.
© Copyright, 2010, Diane Hudson Burns. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
Diane Hudson Burns, Job-Hunt's Job Search Expert for Veterans, is a military transition job-search strategist and career coach. She designs and composes military conversion resumes and helps position service members for employment in corporate or Federal America. Diane holds eight industry credentials including Certified Leadership & Talent Management Coach and Federal Job Search Trainer & Counselor and owns Career Marketing Techniques (www.polishedresumes.com).
